AT last the long criticized operations of the Tanzania Railway Limited under the auspices of the Indian Rites consortium will soon come to an end following a 60-day contract termination notice served to Reli Assets Holding Company (RAHCO), the government has announced.

Speaking during a half an hour Q & A session in Dodoma yesterday, the Prime Minister, Mizengo Pinda, said the government in collaboration with other stakeholders would go through all details of the contract to make sure that the bearing of any decision would help increase efficiency.

&#65533;Sluggish operations of TRL have greatly affected economic activities of many people along the central railway line, including myself from Mpanda. We (government) will go for the best choice for the benefit of the nation,&#65533; he said.

Responding to a question by Juma Siraju Kaboyonga, MP, Tabora who demanded clarification from government on endless friction between TRL management and workers, the situation that caused massive loss of resources, Pinda said the objective was to improve the infrastructure for improved services.

In the recent past, TRL workers were engaged in a go-slow and categorically rejected the idea put forward by the management to have the alleged unserviced passenger coaches put on test from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma citing safety reasons.

It was reported that some officials from the Surface and Marine Transport Authority, Sumatra, took special interest in the matter by taking sides with the management of TRL to an extent of inviting riot police to push for the workers&#65533; compliance, but all was in vain.

TRL took over from the Tanzania Railways Corporation, TRC, which according to some analysts provided comparatively better services than what the new investor TRL has been providing.

The locomotives that previously functioned to a reasonable extent and the wagons put on service in major workshops in Dar es Salaam, Morogoro and Tabora appeared dilapidated following a series of disputes that undermined efficiency.
From This Day,
Friday, November 06 2009

Kenya Railways has announced plans to build a $4-billion high-capacity standard-gauge railway line between the coastal town of Mombasa and the border town of Malaba, with a possible extension to Kampala, in Uganda, and the Great Lakes region.

We want to build a railway line that will meet the projected increase in transport demand, says Kenya Railways MD Nduva Muli.

The company has put out an international tender for transaction advisory services and preliminary design services for the railway line.The winning bidder is expected to undertake the design of the line and to develop a clear strategy on how to raise funds for the project, its construction and a suitable operating model.

Government intends to enhance capacity in the transport sector to improve the effi- ciency, cost-effectiveness and competi- tiveness of the sector to facilitate rapid economic growth, says Muli.Kenya Railways says that construction is expected to start in late 2011, after the completion of a feasibility study.The new railway line, which should be completed in 2016, is seen as the solution to a crumbling railway network.
This is mainly after Rift Valley Railways (RVR), which won a concession to manage the existing network, failed to inject a new lease of life into the 100-year-old system.
According to projections, the new railway line will increase the movement of cargo to a minimum of 4 000 t at an average speed of 120 km/h, compared with 800 t at 45 km/h currently.
It will also be able to handle increased transport demands that are projected to be in excess of 30-million tons by 2030, up from the current 17-million tons.
This is in line with the projected 10% economic growth that would transform Kenya into a middle-level economy, according to the countrys Vision 2030 blueprint.
Passenger transport, which has largely been neglected, is also expected to undergo transformation with the introduction of fast, double-deck trains cruising at an average speed of 160 km/h.

The new railway forms part of Kenya Railways master plan to build a seamless railway network connecting Kenya to landlocked Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi and also Tanzania, Ethiopia and Sudan.The move will not only ease congestion at the Port of Mombasa, but will also open the region to trade and investment.
Three years ago, Kenya and Uganda tried to revive rail transport by concessioning the KenyaUganda railway line to RVR, but this has not produced the desired results.

RVR, a consortium of South Africas Sheltam Railways and local companies, has largely performed poorly in cargo transport and improvement of the infra- structure, prompting the two governments to issue a notice of their intention to terminate the 25-year concession.
RVR, however, has rushed to the courts and managed to get an injunction stopping the planned termination of the contract.
Edited by: Martin Zhuwakinyu